Lift kara de

Ajit Pawarrsquos induction in the NDArsquos Maharashtra government has followed some politically interesting turns and twists Having settled scores with their respective party commanders the splinters of Shiv Sena Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party Ajit Pawar have begun playing a game of oneupmanship between them While the Ajit group has been projecting him as the next chief minister Shinde managed to convey to his jittery supporters and enthusiastic competitors that he shared a good rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi The CM took his entire familymdashthe four generations of itmdashto meet Modi and union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on SaturdayPM Modi retweeted Shindersquos post about the meeting saying it was a pleasure to meet the dynamic and hardworking CM and his family ldquoHis yearning for the progress of Maharashtra and his humble nature is admirablerdquo he saidChief Minister Eknath Shinde and his family meet the prime ministerThis meeting appeared as a balancing act after Ajit and his associate Praful Patel were granted a private audience by the PM a couple of days ago The ModiAjit conversation had taken the shine off Shindersquos prominence at the NDA conclave where he was among leaders chosen to welcome the PM Later he tabled the victory2024 resolutions The honour lifted Shindersquos spirit Ajitrsquos guftugu elevated his supportersrsquo ambition of seeing him as the next CM sooner Mentor at workThe Bharatiya Janata Party BJP that has mentored the rebellions in the Sena and NCP seems to be safeguarding its interests that lie in curating the contest between the mentees It appears that the factions will be kept engaged and concerned about who gets what from the big brother who wants to make best of the respective allyrsquos utility in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls next year For the united Sena was the second biggest seatgetter 18 in NDA2019 The united NCP then with UPA had won four seats which later became five through a bypoll win in Satara In the Assembly the Sena finished second after the BJP United NCP was the third and Congress fourth BJPrsquos third consecutive march towards the Lok Sabha accession will again pass through Maharashtra where NDA had won 42 out of 48 seatsBefore they face the elections together itrsquos all about gaining as much strength through participation in the tripartite government It is to be seen how Shinde and Ajit execute it with or without the BJPrsquos approval Observers say that its vast experience of governance will come handy for the Ajit faction to extract maximum benefits of power ldquoGive them an inch and they take a milerdquo said an NCP observer adding ldquoLetrsquos see how pampering of allies works for the BJP It is not the time for BJP to discipline the erring allies but it is a compulsion to bond with them At the same time a sense of competition between the allies may deliver the most for the big brotherrdquo Smooth run for AjitAnd while power struggle plays up within Mahayuti the ongoing Monsoon session hasnrsquot yet given a clear picture of Ajitrsquos camp strength Most NCP members of the Assembly except for ministers and chieftains of the rival camp have been skipping the daily work What shows NCP apart from another warring party Sena is the softer way both factions have been treating each other Meetings have been held to convince Sharad Pawar who hasnrsquot yielded yet but apparently may have given relief to his nephew on the floor of the house No legal threats whips sound bytes and harsh criticism in the house Ajit hasnrsquot faced the allegations Shinde has been subjected to for the same actAjit the then finance minister had faced accusations of inequitable fund allocation Made incharge of treasury again the tripartite arrangementrsquos finance minister has made a provision of additional developmental funds ranging between R25 crore and R50 crore for his rebel MLAs and some disgruntled members of the Shinde faction A surprising beneficiary is said to be the state president of Ajitrsquos rival faction Jayant Patil Prominent associates of Patil have been ignored With two big elections forthcoming the ways to overcome the difficulties posed by the restrictions of the model code of conduct will be found soon The primary focus will be to start developmental works before the declaration of election code that bars new announcements and fund allocation except for the works approved by the Election Commission Meantime the drama involving three main characters will continue to unfold many more plays within the playDharmendra Jore is political editor midday He tweets dharmendrajoreSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom